European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday november 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Norman Solomon Trudeau is putting mass Media to shame Dansbury  Orem Minoh flu Ocious /  pm amp of tues i just 1ad now a a go Wpm Jekw Piaru. Tub&nomn6 n it / by   vhf Tam inf Flag Bwy umm amp ill in recent Days a lot of Ink and air time have been devoted to denouncing Garry Trudeau a current doonesbury episode. Perhaps the harshest words came from Newsweek a Jonathan alter who opined that Trudeau Quot found himself cast in the unlikely Mold of Alan Simpson at the Anita Hill hearings a spreading personal  comparing a Man to the Junior senator from Wyoming is ultimate nastiness. The mainstream Media heavies Cluck that Trudeau is publicizing a discredited charge that vice president Quayle purchased cocaine a decade ago. But the Media have managed to miss a key Point. In a matter of a couple of weeks Garry Trudeau has done what the entire journalistic profession has been unable or unwilling to do for the past three years a break the logjam that Lias blocked a serious Media focus on the experiences of a Federal prisoner Brett Kimberlin. No Kimberlin a former marijuana dealer is not the Guy who we have been told countless times broke Down and cried after flunking a lie Detector test administered by lbs 60 minutes about his claim to have sold cocaine to Quayle. That was another prisoner. Kimber Jin is someone who tried to use the first amendment just before the 1988 election and found that it was revocable. Officials at the Federal Bureau of prisons were in frequent Contact with the Bush Quayle Campaign in the Days just before the 88 election. Keeping close tabs on what the prisoner Brett Kimberlin was doing and what was being done to him aides to Bush and Quayle repeatedly briefed top Campaign strategists James Baker Iii Lee Atwater and Stuart Spencer. The Warden of the Penitentiary in Oklahoma where Kimberlin was an inmate at the time had authorized him to hold a news conference at the prison on the Friday before the National elections. But the news conference never happened at the last minute in an unprecedented action the Bureau of prisons director in Washington ordered it cancelled. Instead of meeting with reporters who would gathered at the prison Kimberlin wound up in solitary confinement. After the election that put Quayle a heartbeat away for a Long time Brett Kimberlin was ignored or discounted by mass Media. He calmly and unwaveringly stuck to his Story that he had sold marijuana to the future vice president at least a dozen times when Quayle was in Law school in Indianapolis Between 1971 and 1973. Kimberlin offered to take a polygraph test but when a news service Knight Ridder sought to take him up on the offer almost three years ago Federal prison authorities refused to allow it. That refusal was never reported. Whether Kimberlin really sold pot to Dan Quayle is beside the Point. What does matter is that everything Kimberlin has said about his mistreatment by the fed eral Bureau of prisons has checked out. And there is a great Deal of evidence that the Federal prison system was used for partisan political purposes prior to the 1988 National election in order to stifle his voice. Supposedly watchdogs mass Media responded like docile lapdogs showing a distinct Lack of curiosity about what had gone on. A new York times reporter Michael wines told me that in december 1988 he a wound up concluding that this was basically a Case of one prison inmate who was a publicity hound a though he Hadnot bothered to speak with Kimberlin before reaching that conclusion. It was to be nearly three years before wines and his newspaper got Back to the Kimberlin matter. They did so Only in response to the uproar Over the doonesbury comic strip. Some other Media have done a bit better in the last year. Even so the dribble of stories was prompted by the civil suit that Kimberlin has filed against department of Justice officials for abridgement of his constitutional rights. Despite Bush administration objections a Federal judge in Washington ruled that the suit merits a full blown trial next year. Then there is the Issue of parole for Kimberlin who has been behind bars since 1979, when he was convicted on marijuana smuggling and explosives charges. Last year the residentially appointed . Parole commission decided to keep him imprisoned until february 1994. Despite Kimberling a exemplary prison record the parole commission is opting to keep him incarcerated for 180 months a twice As Long As the maximum time recommended in the Federal guidelines of 64-92 months for a prisoner in Kimberling a category of criminal conviction. If belatedly the mass Media begin to focus on the issues behind Kimberling a treatment there will be no reason for journalists to be proud of their past performance. They have the dogged determination of Brett Kimberlin and his Volunteer lawyers to thank a As Well As a cartoonist using his Art to awaken the nations Media to the stench of a scandal buried three years ago that refuses to die. C los Angelos times Washington Post news service James j. Kilpatric Kthomas hearings Shook up the workplace americans business executives Are beginning to get a message through their thick Heads sexual harassment in the workplace is going to Stop a or else. The significance of the a for else Quot is that dim witted executives May now expect to be sued As never before. Have you Ever seen a dam break it is awesome. That is what is happening Here. The Clarence Thomas hearings in the Senate breached a dam of repressed resentment. Now a flood of anger is pouring through. Startled executives Are Rushing for sandbags. The Wall Street journal reports that several of the country a largest financial institutions have suddenly come to life. They have circulated firm directions. Merrill Lynch the nations largest brokerage firm has told its employees flatly that it will not tolerate a a any form of sexual  the Senate much abashed adopted its own High water Resolution on oct. 28. Sexual harassment said the Senate is a form of sex discrimination. In the private sector it is forbidden by the civil rights act of 1964. In the military and in Federal agencies sexual harassment is Flat out prohibited. Those who engage in provable harassment Are subject to military discipline. Harassment in civilian agencies is a firing offence. A Survey by the Merit systems Protection Board found that 42 percent of female respondents experienced a some form of unwanted and uninvited sexual  so did 14 percent of the men it is the sense of the Senate the Resolution declared a that the Senate does not tolerate or condone sexual harassment in government private sector or congressional  not surprisingly the Resolution passed 92-0. If the eight absent senators had been on and it would have been 100-0. Congress has taken further action. Tucked into the new civil rights act is a Long Section sponsored chiefly by sen. Robert Dole of Kansas. It creates a 21-member commission with an open ended appropriation to make a 15-month study of the a Glass ceiling in american Industry. It is this invisible Barrier that prevents women from moving upwardly to executive and managerial ranks. Some figures Are illuminating. The Wall Street journal reports that women hold 40 percent of the jobs at Wall streets 10 largest securities firms but they hold Only 4 percent of the positions As partners and managing directors. Goldman Sachs has 146 partners four of them Are women. The data recall the 1989 supreme court Case of Price waterhouse is. Ann b. Hopkins. Every chief executive officer should read it. At the time the company had 662 partners. Only seven were women. After five years at Price waterhouse Hopkins was nominated for partnership. She was superbly qualified in some ways. She had landed a $25 million contract with the state department. She was widely praised by some of the firms partners for a outstanding performance a for her a Strong character Independence and  but there was another Side. She was aggressive but All too often the aggressiveness became abrasive. She was described As hard to work with brusque impatient sometimes profane unduly harsh toward the staff. A senior partner advised her How to win the coveted partnership she should walk talk and dress a More  she should a take a course in Charm school a Wear makeup have her hair styled and Wear jewelry. In Brief be More of a woman. Hopkins promotion was put on hold. She sued. The High court concluded that sex had been a a a Factor in the firms decision. It was now up to the company to prove that it would have put her on hold even without the Adverse factors. The new civil rights legislation reaffirms and strengthens the supreme courts decision. If sex is a a a motivating Factor for an employment practice even though other factors Are present an employer is asking for trouble in court. Adjusting to the new rules will be Tough in Many factories and offices. Gentlemen get with it serious offensive sexual conduct is not going to be tolerated in the workplace. Those who can to adjust their altitudes had better retain expensive counsel. They Are about to be sued. C Universal press Syndicate